Open, Close
by treesinthestarlight
Summary: After the Potters died, Voldemort is gone. The real culprit, Peter Pettigrew, has been caught and tried and arrested. Sirius and Remus, the only Marauders left, try to live normally while taking care of Harry and arranging Remus' wedding. But when the aftermath hits the Order of the Phoenix hard, they need recruits, and one recruit catches Sirius' eye in particular. SB/OC, RL/OC.


**a/n: Hi! Another SB/OC :) Ava and Fionna are mine, the others however belong to he wonderful JK Rowling. Enjoy!**

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><p>It had started after October 31, 1981.<p>

The Dark Lord had murdered both of his best friends, James and Lily Potter.

Their child was now in his care.

What was he to do?

Sirius Orion Black, no matter how grown-up he was, no matter how many times he had fought in the Order, no matter how many times he insulted Voldemort in the flesh or spat in his face, he didn't know how to take care of a child. There was the occasional 'carrying Harry' or 'tickling Harry' or 'making Harry laugh', but nevertheless he wasn't parent material: at least not yet.

Right now that scoundrel Peter was being tried in Wizengamot, and eventually he'd be put in Azkaban. Remus was coming over in a bit to help, along with his fiancée, Fionna. Sirius liked Fionna a lot; she was a nice Hufflepuff who wasn't really much of a Hufflepuff at all.

She wasn't good at finding things, she wasn't so responsible, and she wasn't the quiet type. She was profane, and Sirius thought that was the best part. She was loyal and patient, so that means she was a Hufflepuff of sorts.

Sirius still had to work for the Order in the meantime, hunting down Death Eaters in secret and bringing them to the Ministry to be prosecuted. So, even though the Dark Lord was gone and he didn't really need any protecting, Harry James Potter had to be put in the care of someone else to be protected. There were Death Eaters who were around, angry that a simple child could defeat Voldemort. When Fionna volunteered, he'd never been happier.

'You'd do that? Really, Fi?' Remus asked, shocked. Fionna nodded, persistent. 'Harry knows me! Right, Harry?' she cooed. She fawned over him, earning her the title of godmother. Contrary, Sirius was his godfather. Remus rolled his eyes. 'Don't feed him too much chocolate, okay?' Remus told her while kissing her goodbye when they were leaving for the Potters' ruined home. Fionna laughed. 'You just want all of it for yourself,' she retorted. Harry gave them a grin goodbye, and for once Sirius thought that he could handle it on his own.

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><p>Turns out, he didn't.<p>

Fionna still had to work as a Mediwitch at Mungo's on the weekends, so she could only take care of Harry on the weekdays. Coincidentally, Sirius had work every day, so sitting in to work on the weekends wasn't an option. Dumbledore had offered for Tonks—his niece from Andromeda and Ted—to babysit, but despite her being a Hufflepuff, Tonks was quite dangerous and clumsy. She might hurt Harry given any situation, and when he voiced his opinion out, she agreed. 'Little toddler might die in the next ten minutes I take care of him,' she had said.

Andromeda could, but she also had duties in the Order. 'And I'm in charge of Security 'round here,' she said tiredly. 'Sorry.'

There was Hestia Jones, but she was an Auror, and she had double work—for the Order and for the Ministry.

They were the only two women in the Order as of now—there was Lily, but… she was gone.

Apparently, the meeting that Saturday concerned a new member of the Order. On the way to Hogwarts via the train in which Remus and Sirius were the only Marauders left, Sirius snorted. 'Just now? What, he grew balls to fight against the _non-existent _Dark Lord? Please.' He stared out the window.

Remus cleared his throat. 'Sirius, don't be like that. Maybe he—or she—just wanted to help out because they feel that it's loads more difficult now than ever. I mean, when Voldemort was alive, all the Death Eaters were open about _them being Death Eaters_, right? But now, when their leader is dead and gone, they have become closed in so it's much more difficult now,' he countered.

Sirius stayed quiet. 'Yeah, okay mate,' he muttered. He was reminiscing, and somehow tears just didn't fall out.

Dumbledore cleared his throat and let everyone sit down on randomly placed chairs in his office. He motioned to a lady with medium height, long black hair that was in a high albeit quickly done pony, and brown eyes. She didn't seem to care about her looks; she had absolutely no make-up on, a loose nightshirt and sweatpants that ended a bit below her knee. She was also wearing flip-flops.

Sirius thought her sloppy. She was meeting _Dumbledore, _for Merlin's sake. At least be well-dressed.

When he heard her speak, though, everything changed.

'Hi, I'm Avalescence Frinin Hurlocke, and I'm a new member of the Order. Now, you're probably wondering why I joined just now, after everything's done? Well, initially, I was having second thoughts. But when they killed my—' her voice cracked, but her eyes showed no emotion whatsoever; her voice remained monotone '—my sister and parents for being Muggles, I broke. I decided to make these bastards pay. So that's why I'm here. And I'm sorry for being so underdressed. I don't have any other clothes since the damn Death Eaters burned up my house and left me for dead on the streets with no Galleons.'

She sat on the floor in front of Andromeda, and Remus swore, to this day, that he saw a 'hmm' of intrigue escape Sirius' lips, the very same one who had been disgusted with her nearly thirty seconds ago.

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><p>'Sirius, why are you so… inattentive today?' Fionna asked. They were eating dinner at Sirius' flat, and even though it was Chinese take-out from a questionable place downtown, it was quite delicious. Sirius hadn't even touched his fried rice, or his siomai. Remus has already scarfed down more congee than imaginable, and a lot more dimsum. Fionna had stuck to spareribs and rice. Harry was being fed with milk, and he was asleep by the time they had eaten.<p>

Remus quirked an eyebrow. 'This isn't about that Hurlocke girl, is it?' he queried. Fionna immediately sat up straight. 'Hurlocke? What?' she stuttered. 'She was a Ravenclaw, and a quiet one at that. She was always so straightforward, rude, and so—how do I put this kindly?—one of those people who are just so dark, as if they have no soul. She was always quiet, though her big mouth was what landed her in detention so many times. She defended me once, against a Slytherin…' Remus snapped his fingers. 'I remember! I was with you patrolling, and she was out heading for her common room. Then a few Slytherins came and Stunned you… she came and Body-Bound them. I never got to thank her; she left too quickly for me to comprehend,' he said.

Sirius was more and more intrigued with this Avalescence character every passing minute. 'I never knew she went to Hogwarts, I never saw her around,' he mumbled. Fionna smirked. 'You like her, don't you? I noticed her, she was in my Transfiguration and Defense classes.' 'I was in there, too!' 'She sat at the back, you sat in front of her.' Fionna winked and put a spoonful of rice in her mouth. 'Well, I rember dat you complained bechose she shat in your ushool schpot,' she said while chewing.

Sirius remembered quite a lot of it. I mean, how could you forget when someone humiliated you?

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><p><em>'Damn girl, sitting in our usual spot,' he cursed. The red-haired girl was in their spot again, and no matter how early they were she was there, reading, hair blocking out her face.<em>

_This day, as he remembered clearly, was the day her hair was in a bun._

_Her feet were on the table, and she was wearing tights under her skirt. She had a silver rope around her ankle, and apparently a tattoo on her right wrist that wasn't covered by the many bracelets she wore._

_Her eyes were brown and she was immersed in her reading, not bothering to look at the Marauders, who, besides her, were the only people in the room. And they were complaining loudly. Sirius was, anyways._

_'Hey! Hey, miss, can you sit somewhere else?' he half-yelled in her face. She remained stoic. 'Fuck off. I'm trying to read,' she said flatly, eyes still scanning the book pages. Sirius' mouth gaped open. 'Did you just—' he turned to his friends, '—did she just—' 'Sorry to disturb, miss, our friend is just highly overprotective of his spot,' Remus quickly apologized, James slapping a hand over Sirius' mouth. He looked as if he was trying not to laugh at the girl's rudeness._

_She looked up and tilted her head. She rubbed her posterior on the chair's surface and almost smiled. 'I guess it's my chair now, huh?' she said, triumph evident in her otherwise flat voice._

_Sirius had to make do with the second row from the back, while the girl was smugly sitting in her new seat._

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><p>He looked down at his food. 'Her?... She seemed a bit familiar.' He stabbed a piece of siomai with his fork and bit it. 'Her voice was a bit… too emotionless, too emotionless that only those Muggle tobocks have them,' Fionna said, scraping her take-out box for leftover rice. Remus rolled his eyes. '<em>Robots<em>, and she was always that stoic. Wasn't much of a feeler… her voice cracked though? Did you hear that?' he countered.

Sirius nodded quietly, chewing his food thoughtfully. "Why did this girl have to mess me up at this time, of all times?" he thought. He sighed and pushed his food away. 'I-I'm not hungry,' he said finally. 'I'm gonna check on Harry.' He pushed his chair back and stood, wiping his hands on a nearby towel and flinging it on the countertop sink.

As he disappeared, Fionna turned to Remus. 'Did he just reject his food?' she said incredulously, reaching for his uneaten food container. Remus chuckled. 'The Avalescence girl got him,' he concluded. Fionna took her fork and stabbed the siomai and put it in her mouth whole. 'Shwell, more food for me. Wight, Wemus?' she said happily.

Remus sighed. 'I guess,' he said, before standing up and throwing the containers in the trash.

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><p>Avalescence sat on the bed, sighing and taking off her shirt. It was hot in the unoccupied dorm, even if she was the only one there.<p>

Dumbledore had offered to let her sleep there, since her house was burnt to ash.

She laid back on the Ravenclaw bed comfort she had grown to love. She sniffed it, and it smelled like parchment. She almost smiled…

She inched her way to the headboard and turned to her left, facing the window. The crescent moon shone bright, and as November inched closer and Christmas approached, she knew she had to hide her feelings from everyone.

She felt exposed even if she only smiled—she didn't have much of a happy childhood, even if it was good towards the end. That was the reason her voice cracked in the meeting earlier—her parents cared for her more, and her sister was better and not so depressed and masochistic.

But then—the damn Death Eaters came.

All because of the grudge stupid Mulciber held against her when she defended that Hufflepuff last—what, three years ago?—and he still hated her.

Slytherins were such dramatic asshole bitches.

Clad in just her boxers and her bra, she stretched her arms and legs, happy for the privacy. She was the only one crashing in the castle, so she decided that since Dumbledore and the other professors left for an important staff meeting she let clad in that only because how many times can you walk around Hogwarts half-naked? I mean, come on.

She exited the dorms, heading for the kitchens.

She thought she was the only one there.

She was wrong.

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><p>'Dumbledore! Are you here?' a voice rung out on the end of the hallway. She widened her eyes and hid behind a suit or armor in a side hall. 'Shit,' she muttered. She knew it was a bad idea. She wished she could run back, but that hallway was the only pathway. And the bad news is, she didn't know if there were any secret passages in that hall. She was screwed.<p>

And she realized—that hall was the one that led to the Headmaster's Office.

Oh, was she screwed.

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><p>'Dumbledore! Are you here?' Sirius called out, approaching the Headmaster's Office. He thought he heard a scuffle, but nothing.<p>

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><p>She tried to Disapparate, but it was bloody Hogwarts.<p>

* * *

><p>He took the side hallway on his right.<p>

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><p>She cringed in anticipation of what was about to come.<p>

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><p>When Sirius took the hallway to his left, he didn't expect to see a half-naked female hunched up behind a suit of armor.<p>

What's worse is that the said girl was Avalescence Frinin Hurlocke.

He blushed and turned away. 'Uh…' he muttered. Scuffling. 'Sorry,' she said, embarrassed. 'Dumbledore's not here, he's somewhere with the other teachers.'

Footsteps, fading into the background.

Sirius almost fainted. He barely knew the girl, and already he had seen her half-naked. What was she doing walking around half-naked anyways?

'Ms. Hurlocke?' he called after her. Her back was to him; she rubbed her arms conservatively. 'Yes?' she replied icily. "Weird, she was embarrassed a while ago," he thought. 'Would I have the pleasure of—' 'No, I wouldn't want to have dinner with you, or anything. Now please leave me be,' she said stonily. She quickly padded her way to the Ravenclaw common room, and once the door opened she hurried inside.

Sirius was in a daze—so he did what all Sirius Blacks did; he followed her to the common room.

The door immediately emitted a creaky voice: 'Ripped from my ancestor's home, beaten and burned, I become a bloodthirsty killer. What am I?' Sirius thought and thought… what could it be?

He eventually gave up after a few, and decided to—'Iron ore,' Remus sighed. Sirius jumped. 'MOONY!' he gasped. 'When did you get here?' Remus shrugged. 'Just now, and I figured you'd go looking for that Hurlocke girl—' His cheeks reddened at the thought of her half-naked. He cut him off. 'No, I was looking for Dumbledore to ask if Andromeda had guard duties on the weekend,' he said. Remus raised an eyebrow.

'You sure? Dumbledore told us he and the professors would take an excursion to check on the list of Death Eater captured at the Ministry,' he said, doubting the Black's excuse. Sirius wiped his palms on his jeans. 'Yeah, yeah, I forgot,' he said, brushing the question away. He opened the Ravenclaw dorm door. 'Thanks, Moony!' he howled, shutting the door behind him.

Remus sighed. 'Why am I friends with this idiot?'

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><p>Avalescence groaned and put her head in her hands. "Why did I do that? Why am I that stupid?" she thought angrily. Not only was it a male, but it was fucking Sirius Black, for Merlin's sake. The so-called playboy of Hogwarts back in the seventies.<p>

She still remembered when she sassed him over a seating problem.

She moaned in embarrassment. 'Stupid, stupid, stupid,' she mumbled under her breath, putting on a shirt. Suddenly it felt a bit too cold. She sighed and started humming the start to a song, her favorite song. 'This is gospel, for the fallen ones, locked away in permanent slumber…' she sang loudly. No one was in the dorm anyways.

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><p>Sirius entered and looked at the statue of Rowena Ravenclaw. "Wow, she was pretty," he thought. Suddenly he heard singing… "Is that… Hurlocke?" The voice sounded nice and feminine, unlike the hard and cold Avalescence Hurlocke voice he was so used to hearing.<p>

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><p>'La la la da da…' she trailed off, absentmindedly levitating objects. She heard a loud thud outside and jumped. Who was that? She immediately gripped her wand defensively and quietly stepped out. 'Hello?' she called cautiously. 'Who's there?' She skipped down the steps soundlessly and saw a flicker of movement behind one of the plush couches. She narrowed her eyes. '<em>Rictusempra,<em>' she muttered. Red sparks shot out from the end of her wand and hit the couch, making the person behind it jump out. '_Stupefy!_' she quickly shouted. The spell hit its target, the said person falling down with a groan and a loud _oof. _

She didn't expect to see the very person she wished would go away.

'Black, what are you doing in the Ravenclaw common room?' she said tiredly, crouching down and glaring at him while he rubbed his stomach where the spell hit. 'You've got reflexes, that's for sure,' he muttered, groaning as he sat up. She pushed him back down and straddled him, her wand under his chin and her other hand grasping his shirt. 'What are you doing here? Answer me. _And don't try to lie_,' she threatened.

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><p>Sirius never thought she looked so beautiful.<p>

Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes sparkling. Her legs—which her shorts showed off quite nicely—were long and nice and creamy. He noticed that her nails were painted black.

Her red hair was a darker velvety color than Lily's, but richer. Her grey eyes were bright.

He gulped. 'I—I wanted to talk to you,' he sputtered. She narrowed her eyes and put her face closer to his, noses touching. Her grasp on his shirt tightened. 'You wanted to talk to me?' she growled. It took Sirius all his willpower not to kiss her then and there. 'Y—Yes,' he replied. She let go of his shirt, his head hitting the floor. 'Ah, fuck,' he complained as she swung her legs off his waist and stood up. 'So, you wanted to talk to me,' she said conversationally as if she hadn't threatened him.

He stood and brushed himself off. 'Yes.' 'What about?' She skipped up the steps to the dorms, and Sirius followed. Luckily she was sensitive enough to use the boys' dorms.

She opened a door and sat on a bed by the door, lying down spread-eagle on it. She closed her eyes. 'So? What about?' she insisted. Sirius remained standing; he didn't know where to sit. She patted the space beside her. 'I still haven't forgiven you for sneaking in. So you can do me a favor and lie down beside me.'

He raised his eyebrows. Was she crazy?

She probably was, but then again, all the best people are.

He lay down beside her, his hands resting behind his head. She scooted farther to provide him more space, and he wished she didn't.

'I wanted to say sorry for—for barging in the castle without any permission,' he said. His cheeks reddened as he remembered the incident. He turned his head to see if she had any reaction. He was expecting her to blush, or turn away, or be nervous. But no, she—she _laughed._

'It was my fault,' she said, eyes crinkling as she turned to face him. 'I thought I could be alone in Hogwarts—apparently not.' She ran a hand through her hair, unraveling it from its braid. 'Now I don't know where to walk around naked,' she added.

He laughed. 'You could do that in my apartment,' he said suggestively, wiggling his eyebrows. She rolled her eyes and shoved him, sitting up and walking over to the door, hips shaking a bit more than usual. He swallowed. 'And here I thought I could have a normal conversation with you,' she said disappointedly, winking at him nevertheless.

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><p><strong>See you bastards soon.<strong>


End file.
